probably one actor who has kissed all the ladies who ever acted love
roles in Nollywood films featuring him . EmekaIke is a role model to
youths too. Ike has acted in a good number of classic movies like
Leap of faith, Love doctor amongst others. In spite of the glamour
and fame of being an actor, Ike said he sometimes regrets being
acelebrity. In this encounter with The Entertainer, Ike explains why
he regrets being a celebrity and bares his mind on other issues.
Excerpts:
You seem to be taking a break from acting. Why ?
It's not only me you don't see in movies these days. You don't see
otherbig names as well. You don't see all of us the way you used to
see us then. We aren't that current and regular as before. This is
because lately, a problem I have been lamenting over has sent
everybody back to the drawing board. So, we are all making one movie
in a year now. I just made my own movie recently. What they are doing
now isn't the Nollywood l know.Now, they are making a movie and
cutting it into 10 parts.
I have so many detractors in the industry and this resulted from my
many grouses with some stakeholders. Another problem I have stems
from my opposition to the international cable system. I questioned
why they should be showing many of our movies without paying us, which
is against the UNESCO charter. Contract or no contract, there is a
UNESCO charter that mandates them to pay us and we are signatories to
it. I've been complaining about it before 2009. I have been warning
that Nollywood was dying. Now, is Nollywood not dead? Is Idumota open?
There's crisis in the Actors Guild. Why are Pound road and Ebinpejo
lane shut down? Where are all those marketing places inAba where we
used to make noises, they are all shut down.
(cuts in) Isn't that as a result of piracy?
No. Were you not there when the former Censors Board chairman,
EmekaMba, which you have made your NBC chairman now, stood up and
said if you don't pay me N5.5m don't release any movie? The marketers
supported him and arrested everybody and that pushed everybody out
of the market. DSTV and HI TV were reigning and they were pushing for
these television stations to be the most watched, so that Nollywood
could go under and everyone watching Nollywood could then watch the
movies on the cable. That was the trick, the game plan, but I stood up
against that and they went around and started using divide and rule.
Some actors would talk both left and right. "Emeka Ike says T.V
stationsare not honoring our rights" and someactors would go behind
to the stations to say "no you are the best. These T.V stations are
doing us proud", when thestations have not been paying them
entitlements. Such entitlements shouldbe enjoyed by their children's
childreneven when they are gone. That's the crisis and they began to
turn other colleagues against me. Anyone that is fighting Emeka Ike
among other actors would be given free publicity. They would sponsor
the person and give him or her heavy money, because Emeka Ike wants
them out of business and they don't want to stop the multi-billion
Naira business. It's like I'm carrying the whole Nigerian problem on
my head. Everyone is saying "oh! Nollywood is going to the next level.
We are doing the best and the next level is now we are doing three
moviesin a month!" What happens to the job of those who employed
hundred people. They say those are bad movies but I ask, what happens
to progressive rise, what happens to competition? Do your good movies
let me do my bad one? Does your celluloid let me do myHD 1?. Let me go
and shoot for CDs. All the scandals about Emeka Ike today are just
attacks on my person for daring to be outstanding.
How can government resolve the crisis?
The government can only address the situation by calling on all the
aggrieved parties. If they can invite my guild, the Actors' Guild,
every otherguild would fall in. If they can unify the various
factions in the guild, everyother guild would come together. Other
guilds or associations come second, but they are using the producers
to cause havoc. They are causing divisions, tribal divisions and
segregating us and because many of us do not really think of the
future of the Nigerian movie, they go and collect the $10,000 or
$5,000 they're offered. This is just part payment for showing our
movies once on their channel , but they accept these peanuts and the
T.V stations show the movies everyday. I have the statistics.
Ambassador Chris Chukwu once said that a certain entertainment firm
wanted to buy our movies for $120,000 back then, but then we were
just struggling to make quality movies that could pass through. Now we
are making such movies, yet our movies are selling to cables for
N40,000 and even less. Who does that take care of? No wonder many of
my colleagues are dying. An actor who used to land five or ten jobs in
a month now can't even boast of a job in six months. The ones he did
before have become a problem. He has become too popular for his
pockets. Hecan't even take care of himself. There's no piracy
anywhere. Television stationsare the pirates because they show our
movies with impunity. The boys in Alaba are the ones now doing parts
1 to 20 movies. So, they can't pirate themselves. Then television
stations can afford to shun Emeka Ike's noise because they know all
the government functionaries. So, who is Emeka Ike to stop them? My
colleagues have kept quiet about it and I sometimes wonderwhy I should
stand alone. My wife sometimes tells me that even the people I am
fighting for don't even know the importance of the fight. Theyare
moving on as if nothing is at stake and they are even playing with
these stations. But I usually say that the fight is for our children.
That is what l keep telling her. But sometimes I get tired of it all.
This is because the people I am fighting for are even against me.
That's a man that has not been paid royalties for years.
If you were to come again to this earth, would you still tread same path?
No, I won't. In fact, to tell you the truth, I sometimes regret being
an actor and a celebrity. I don't have privacy. Sometimes, people
embarrass me by addressing me rudely on the streets. Some say, hey!
O' boy how now? No be you we dey call? So, because you don become star
you dey do Shakara?
I am also unhappy about the way we handle things in this part of the
world. We don't like people who say the truth.There are so many
sycophants out there and they only want to pull othersdown to rise.
People that even got up riding on your back, now try to pull you down
in order to be relevant.
What's your driving force in your career?
Apart from working with God, my ability to formally attend school
and wanting to obtain a better degree makes me strive for
excellence in all I do. This helped me to acquire more skills and I
read engineering. I am sureif you go to campuses they would tell you
that engineering students are brilliant .
How about the training of 40 Niger Delta ex-militants we learned you weredoing?
We trained Niger Delta militants at the Youths Academy ,West Africa
in Ghana (MY Academy). It was pleasant working with them. We found
out howinnocent and sincere they were to know the truth and learn .
It was a pleasure to be used by God to relay their next phase in life
to them. Our aim was to train and empower them and we have trained
them now. I worked with them at the National Institute for Film
(NAFTI) in Ghana and we're impressed about the results of their
projects. When we came back to Nigeria for the market place
experience, we were able to make a more fantastic discovery. It was
fun working with them, we were able to shoot and edit a film in five
days with HD 1 camera. We were able to realize a fantastic project.
They served as boththe cast and production crew of the production.
They watched me shoot and edit the film on set. It was just a
relaxing experience for them. The filmwe shot is about malaria and it
has been nominated by the American Embassy for this year's World
Malaria Day. It would be screened at the WorldIntellectual Property/
Anti-counterfeit Day. We edited and shot the film in less than one
month. You are going to see a showcase of rare talents and if these
boys were able to make such quality films in such a short time, less
than a month, it shows we have a lot to offer.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/entertainment/sometimes-i-regret-being-an-actor-emeka-ike/
No comments:
Post a Comment